Monday, August 20, 2012

Usually when I'm writing about the Cup its Lord Stanley's...but this time its Don Edberg's!

After Ore To Shore & Trek World I didn't really feel like making the drive over to Mt. Morris for a pre-ride. I needed to stay home and get as much rest as possible. So I went with the...its just like any other WORS race approach. No pre-ride, show up the day of the race, and then let 'er rip.

It seemed to work pretty good. When I arrived and went to pick up my number "21" I was hopeful that was my call up spot. I thought a top 10 was easily doable with a good ride. Unfortunately I got called up a little further back than that....it was just enough back that I was on the brakes hard multiple times in the lead out and then again heading into the first singletrack. 4 minutes into the race I was already 45+ seconds behind the leaders. Luckily my legs & lungs showed up for the challenge. After lap 1 I was 18th. After Lap 2 I was 11th battling with 10, 11, and 12.

I was climbing good, the Top Fuel was eating up the descents and the rocks...I felt like I was going so much faster than anyone on a hardtail on the flat pedaling rocky portions of the race course.

The last lap I was battling for 10th, but didn't have quite enough in the tank. I was able to climb up to Sam Schultz, but didn't have it to go by him. Maybe I was saving something for Sunday! Finished 11th and was pretty happy.

I drove home after some pizza at Christiano's in Wautoma and the mandotory ice cream from the Milty Wilty. Slept in my own bed and then woke up Sunday morning and did it all over again.

This time I was a little more motivated knowing I was going to have a 2nd row start spot based on Saturdays XC finish. I opted to ride the Elite 9.9 for the Short Track and I felt good on the warm up. The big question with a right hand corner 100 feet after the start was line up on the right or the left. When I saw the Star N Stripes of Todd Wells right in the middle I knew that was my wheel. I just missed out too...missed out on the big crash that is...not sure exactly what happened but out of the corner of my eye I saw Finsty leaning on JHK who was leaning on the dude that I just managed to get my elbow in front of...I felt the dude land on my back wheel and when I looked up it was 6 guys and a huge gap. I knew I had to get there and fast...I buried myself in the next 500meters to close the gap to Tristans wheel.

I made it though and then pretty much was secured a solid ride. I was a little uncomfy on the hardtail with a few flat bumpy pedaling sections. Not sure if I should have gone with the Fuel. Half way through the race I found my self riding away from Tristan and another guy and solid in 6th position. I was closing the gap to D. Zandstra who had won the day before. I made contact with 2 to go and we were less than 5 seconds from 3rd and 4th, but I just couldn't find that extra .09% Finished a solid 6th and was pretty happy to walk away from the weekend with 2 good results and two 1st place scores in the WORS overall.

Next up is Suamico this weekend...it feel likes its been 3 weeks since I have been out on a training ride with all the racing, recovering and traveling...excited to try to bring it up another notch in the next month before cross starts.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

It's been non-stop and it looks like its going to be that way for a while!!!! Most important thing though is that I'm having fun and feeling good.

Its been a while since I have updated my blog. I was training really hard leading up to Ore To Shore and I even stepped over the line for a little bit and had to back it down because I though I was getting sick. Luckily a few extra days of rest and I fought it off and had a good day at the first Triple Crown of the year.

Andrea and I stuck to tradition and drove up to Marquette w/ the Hyundai loaded down. 2 people - 4 bikes and lots of gear! We arrived and did the standard pre-ride w/ Tristan and Mike Anderson, back for 10 miles and then flipped it for 10 miles and pre-viewed the finish. We ate at the Pasta Shoppe and stayed at the MQT Motor Lodge. Its all so familiar and we do it the same every year...it just makes it easier and it seems to work for good race results.

Andrea had the best race of her life finishing in 7th just 35 seconds away from a top 5! She had been training super hard and I am really really happy her bike stayed together and there were no mishaps racing with the guys.

Getting ready to put the pressure on over the top of Misery Hill!

I finsihed 2nd. What I really didn't want was a sprint finish like last year. What I got was a sprint finish...but this time Cole won. I spent most of the race trying to drop him. I attacked multiple times, had the pressure on a lot, but nobody wanted to try to go with me...they just wanted to chase me down. Tristan and I had a gap after the power line climbs, but it was a little to early. It was enough to whittle the lead group down to 7 instead of the 15 - 25 we had the previous year so that was good, but again not enough. Cole raced the smartest race and it paid off in the end.

Cole was going so fast he had to counter steer in the final turn!

After the race it was the standard post race pizza, the awards ceremony and another trip to the Pasta Shoppe! We were so lucky to have perfect weather all weekend. We finished the weekend off w/ an awesome trail ride at Mqt Mountain. The new trails there are awesome! Gotta check it out if you are every in Marquette. After the trail ride it was another 3 hours on the bike! This time it was skinny tires! Not too skinny though...yep cross season is officially here. I hosted two cross clinics for the KMK bike club. It was pretty awesome. Tons of interest in the UP for cross. The first clinic was 6 or 7 girls. Perfect numbers to get lots of 1 on 1 attention. Then the next clinic was 7 or 8 guys. We worked on barriers, shouldering the bike, cornering....and of course sand!

Momentum Endurance Cross 101

The fun didn't stop there though. Sunday night we arrived home at 9pm and spent quite some time upacking and then bright and early Monday morning I was off to Trek World! I picked up my friend Pete from Athens Bicycle at the Madison airport and then we rolled to Trek HQ for demo days. I was crushed when I was told there will be no Top Fuel for 2013, but the good news is I did get out on the new Superfly and it truly is 'Superfly'. After testing multiple bikes it was back to Madison to check out the big show. Hang with old friends, meet Bo Jackson, and just be pumped to be associated with a great company like Trek. I finally made it home by midnight. I'm smashed!